District policy · 2026-2027
Paterson Charter School for Science and Technology
Passaic County · Charter school · Grades 4-7
Last verified · policy year 2026-2027
Read this entry with one caveat
This school runs four campuses: K-1, 2-3, 4-7 and 8-12. Each publishes its own handbook, and this record was built entirely from the 4-7 documents. That is a real problem, because the 8-12 handbook states the opposite rule: “Cell phone use is only allowed before school in the main lobby and at dismissal time to maintain parent communication and the safety of students.” Before and after school is therefore recorded as unverified rather than prohibited, and the claim that the rule is stricter than the state minimum, which rested on the rule not ending at the dismissal bell, is withdrawn: at the 8-12 campus it does end there. The consequence ladder recorded here is also the 4-7 ladder and differs from the 8-12 one. Two further cautions: the cited handbook is titled for 2026-2027 in its filename but its own text says 2025-2026 three times and carries no date; and the corroborating handbook states that students may use phones “with permission of the Lead Person, Elementary School Coordinator or Administrators”, which sits awkwardly with our claim that no exception process exists.
Period by period
2 of 6 not yet verifiedEach row is either something this district’s own document says, or an explicit admission that we have not found it. We never infer one period from another. Passing time, lunch and study hall, the three periods the statute never mentions, are marked with an amber rule.Q8
- Class time
- Not allowed
- Phones and other personal internet-enabled devices are prohibited.Instructional time. Restricted under the statute itself.
- Passing timeNot named in the statute
- Not allowed
- Phones and other personal internet-enabled devices are prohibited.Between classes. NJDOE guidance restricts it; the statute never mentions it.
- LunchNot named in the statute
- Not allowed
- Phones and other personal internet-enabled devices are prohibited.On-campus lunch. NJDOE guidance restricts it; the statute never mentions it.
- Study hallNot named in the statute
- Not allowed
- Phones and other personal internet-enabled devices are prohibited.Study hall. NJDOE guidance restricts it; the statute never mentions it.
- School bus
- Not yet verified
- We have not found a source that states this district's rule for this period. We have not guessed one.State guidance permits phones on buses unless the district goes further. A district rule here is stricter than the state floor.
- Before and after school
- Not yet verified
- We have not found a source that states this district's rule for this period. We have not guessed one.State guidance permits phones outside the school day unless the district goes further.
How phones are stored
A local choice, not a state oneLocked pouch
Phones go into a magnetically locking pouch (Yondr or similar) that the student carries but cannot open until dismissal.
"YONDR is a secure pouch system designed to restrict cell phone and electronic device use while students are on school grounds. All students are issued a personal YONDR case for use throughout the school year, regardless of whether they own a device." Phones are locked before entering the building and stay locked until the student is off school property.
What happens if the rule is broken
First violation: the device is confiscated and held in the Dean's Office, and a parent or guardian must collect it during school hours. Second: detention or a behaviour contract. Repeated violations escalate, including out-of-school suspension. Refusing to lock or hand over a device results in immediate out-of-school suspension. A lost or damaged pouch carries a $15 replacement fee.
Asking for an exception
The statute names what a policy must accommodateNo exception or waiver process is stated in the policy: there is no medical, IEP or 504 carve-out in the document. Students “may use the office phone before or after school to contact parents/guardians as only in emergency cases.”
The statute itself names circumstances a policy must accommodate, including an IEP, a 504 plan, a documented health plan, translation needs, certain caregiving responsibilities, and emergencies.s.2.b(3)-(5)
In the district’s own words
Quoted exactly, not summarisedDevices must remain off and locked in the YONDR case at all times while students are on school grounds. Devices may not be removed, accessed, or used during school hours or on campus.
Paterson Charter School for Science and Technology · read · Open the document
Everything else on this page is our reading of Paterson Charter School for Science and Technology’s policy. This is the policy. We quote rather than paraphrase so you can check us against the document instead of taking our word for what it says.
Sources
1 primary, 1 corroboratingNothing on this page can be published without at least one primary source attached to it. That is enforced by the database, not by a habit.
District decisionPrimary source
Electronic Devices and YONDR Policy
Paterson Charter School for Science and Technology · August 2026 · checked
Devices may not be turned on or used until the student is off school property and out of sight of the school building.
District decisionCorroborating source · reporting, not an official document
2026-2027 Student-Parent Handbook (grades 4-7)
Paterson Charter School for Science and Technology · August 2026 · checked